New Undertakings. 77 there was a possibility of having all our carriages moved by steam, instead of being drawn by horses. In this age of improvement, however, scarcely any thing surprises us. The London newspapers give us the following account of a new company. KENTISH RAILWAY COMPANY. The intention of this company is to lay down an iron railway, first from London to Woolwich, and afterwards, (according as circumstances may prompt successive extensions of the plan) to Gravesend, Stroud, Rochester, Chatham, Maidstone, Tunbridge, and the Weald of Kent; and again to Faversham, Canterbury, Margate, Ramsgate, and Dover. Upon these roads, steam-engines are intended to travel; and, as it is calculated that they will move three or four times as quick as waggons, and will carry passengers nearly twice as rapidly as coaches do, the projectors of the scheme reckon upon shortly putting an end to almost all waggons and coaches, as well as to many of the boats which now pass between London and the various points of the Kentish coast. Not many years ago the notion of boats moving by steam was considered perfectly ridiculous ;-and yet steam-boats are now so common, that there is scarcely any other kind of packet at present to be seen, and, in a few years more, it is not impossible that every ship in our navy may be furnished with a steam-engine. The application of steam to ships may yet be only in its infancy. How far it will succeed generally, for land carriages, remains yet to be proved; though there are instances of some very successful attempts. The following plan of a steam packet is also taken from a London paper. success. STEAM PACKET TO INDIA. the This is the boldest attempt hitherto undertaken for the application of steam to sea voyages; yet it appears to be calculated with every chance of The vessel is five hundred tons burden, to be fitted for passengers only, and is just launched from Deptford. She is completed with machinery of the best description, and will be commanded by a Lieutenant of the Royal Navy, who is well acquainted with the seas which she will have to traverse. Between decks there are ten cabins ; two stern cabins are ten feet nine inches, by seven feet six; the other eight cabins are each seven feet three wide, but differ, in length, from seven feet nine to eight feet ten. The vessel will be equally adapted for sailing and steaming. She will touch at the Cape of Good Hope, to take in a fresh supply of coals and other necessaries, and will proceed thence to Madras, and finally to Calcutta. Upon a moderate calculation, it is estimated that she will make the whole voyage from London to Calcutta in less than two months. We should not be in the least surprised to find this attempt perfectly successful. When we see how much has been done within a very few years by the increase of knowledge and perseverance, we are cured of that incredulous disposition, which looks upon every thing as impossible, except what it has been accustomed to behold. This is a disposition calculated to check every chance of improvement, and indeed every attempt at it. Many of us remember the old heavy coaches, with their great baskets behind them, taking a long day to go fifty miles,-breakfasting, dining, and drinking tea on the road; and this not much more than thirty years ago! Which of us could then have pictured to ourselves the coaches which now go the same distance between breakfast and dinner? And this is often done with as little distress to the horses, as the travelling in former days. To be sure, Mr. M'Adam has made new roads for them to travel upon; I say travel upon, for upon the old plan the method was to travel through, to plough through, the roads. But, speaking of roads and of Mr. M'Adam, who would have believed that in those countries, where no good roads were to be had, where there was no gravel, nothing but large stones, and where the shaking roads were the dread of all travellers,-who would have believed, I say, that these very stones were just the things that were wanted to make the best of all roads,-merely by discovering the secret of breaking them into small pieces? To the improvement of the roads we are greatly indebted for the improvement in the comfort and speed of our travelling.-If, however, the ambition of quick travelling should' tempt our stage-coachmen to drive their horses, as some do, beyond their strength, and sometimes to break the passengers' necks, we shall the less regret to see these handsome sets-out laid aside, and shall be glad to take our place in the securer and quieter conveyance of a steam engine. V. A ROT IN SHEEP. CORRESPONDENT in the St. James's Chronicle says, that if wet fleshy grass, or turnips, will rot sheep, a mixture of dry food with it will prevent it. A sack of beans, or a quarter of oats per week in summer for one hundred sheep (who will run after such food after once tasting it, in the very best grass,) and a liberal supply of hay in winter, to which they must be confined at night, will not only prevent the rot, but forward the condition of the flock. This is a much more profitable plan than trifling with quack medicines, with which people are duped, to cure an incurable complaint. CURIOUS ANECDOTE. THERE was, about the year 1630, a wild young fellow who had run away from his apprenticeship in London, and joined the army for the sake of plunder and dissipation. Though he was so profligate a character, yet he pretended to be religious, and carried a Bible in his pocket. Being one day ordered on a skirmishing party, to attack some fortress, he returned to his quarters in the evening unhurt; but, when he was going to bed, pulling the Bible out of his pocket, he observed a hole in it. His curiosity led him to trace the depth of this hole, when he found that a bullet had gone as far as the 11th chap. of Ecclesiastes verse 9; he read the verse, it was, "Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; "and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy "youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and "in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that "for all these things God will bring thee to judg "ment."-The circumstance had its effect on his future conduct: and he used to observe, that the Bible was the means of saving both his soul and his body. VERSES. 'Tis wisdom, mercy, love divine, Which mingles blessings with our cares; If we obtain not all our prayers? Hymn on the Separation of Friends. Mrs. Steele. 81 HYMN ON THE SEPARATION OF FRIENDS, As the sun's enliv'ning eye Shines on every place the same, So the Lord is always nigh To the souls that love his name. When they move at duty's call, Those who go, and those who stay. From His holy mercy-seat Nothing can their souls confine; For a season call'd to part, Hear, O Lord, our humble pray'r! In thy strength may we be strong; Here to meet in peace again. Then, if Thou thy help afford, |